Barbershop Quartet prepares to deliver singing valentines

ASHEBORO — Want to do something unique and special for your loved one this Valentine’s Day?

Imagine four men in suave tuxes arriving at your sweetheart’s place of work or home on Tuesday to serenade them with a sweet, tender love song, which could bring anyone — even the burliest of men — to tears.

Throughout North America, hundreds of barbershop quartets are ready to provide a Valentine’s Day gift that will be remembered forever.

“Flowers may last a day, a card for a week, but the memory of a singing valentine lasts for years,” said Jon Vickers, former chair and current quartet member with the Triad Harmony Express based out of Winston-Salem.

On Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day, local folks all around the Triad can opt to send a barbershop quartet to their significant other for $50. The quartet will sing a classic love song, deliver a long-stemmed red rose and present them with a card. For an added cost, they will add a dozen roses and a box of candy.

“This is our big project of the year,” Vickers said. “We send quartets out all over the Triad for loved ones — and in turn, raise a lot of money for different charities.”

All proceeds go to charity.With 30-40 men in the Triad chapter alone, they are ready to sing come Valentine’s Day. Since none of the proceeds go into their pockets, they perform solely in the name of love.

The Triad Harmony chapter has been around for 30 years and still going strong. If someone wants to send a singing valentine to a loved one in another state, the chapter can send a quartet out via another chapter in that particular area of the country.

“We get requests from everyone — young, old, men, women,” Vickers said. “ We’ve sang at everything from a children’s party to Hospice, and everything in between.”

Vickers said he’s seen every sort of reaction imaginable.

“Most people are thrilled to receive a singing valentine,” Vickers said. “And the ones who are embarrassed eventually get over it. They realize how much they are loved and it’s more of a good kind of embarrassment.”

Vickers recalls a particular incident where his quartet was hired to sing to a tough, burly man who was working with the city crew in the middle of an intersection that day.

The man was concentrating on the jack hammer he was using when the supervisor cut it off, surprising the man. When he turned around to protest, there stood the quartet who proceeded to belt out a love song. After a moment of embarrassment wore off, the man finally teared up. So did his fellow crewmen who had just been making fun of the situation.

Another situation left the whole quartet in tears. A blind man arranged for the quartet to sing for his wife, who was also blind. As the older couple sat together, hands intertwined, listening to the classic love ballads from their time, the quartet had tears streaming down their faces as they struggled to keep singing.

That day, the man told Vickers that their singing had shone a light into their eyes once again.

“That’s really what it’s about — doing something so touching for these people,” Vickers said. “It’s always a long, exhausting day, but it’s also the most exhilarating.”

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For more information or to send a singing valentine, contact Triad Harmony Express at 774-4044 or email valentines@thechorus.com. Leave your name and number and a representative will return the call to arrange the visit.